DANIEL F. CARDONE - DIRECTOR

Born in Australia, Daniel F. Cardone worked on critically acclaimed productions such as The Home Song Stories, Animal Kingdom, and the Emmy award-winning The Pacific. Daniel was also an Associate Producer on Australian sitcom Outland. After moving to the US, Daniel directed the segment Construct of the feature documentary Still Around (2011, distributed by Outcast Films), in addition to writing and directing the short film Incident, which premiered at Palm Springs Shortfest 2012. Daniel also directed the second unit sequences for the feature length documentary The Life & Crimes of Doris Payne. Daniel lives in Southern California with his husband and his four rescue dogs - Henry, Eleanor, Mabel and Lady Miss Betty Boo. Desert Migration is his first feature film as director.

MARC SMOLOWITZ - PRODUCER

Marc Smolowitz is a multi-award winning director, producer and executive producer with 25 years of experience across all aspects of the entertainment and media business. His career focus has been powerful social issue filmmaking across all genres. His long list of credits includes films that have screened at top-tier festivals - Sundance, Berlinale, AFI Docs, IDFA, Tokyo, Melbourne, among others - and been released worldwide theatrically, across all forms of television, and on VOD/Digital. Select titles including: "The Nine" (Producer, 2016), “Buried Above Ground” (Producer, 2015), “Desert Migration” (Producer, 2015), “Black Is Blue" (Producer, 2014), "Heaven Adores You" (Producer, 2014), “Havana Curveball" (Exec. Producer, 2014), "The Campaign" (Producer, 2013), “Keep The Promise: The Global Fight Against AIDS,” narrated by Margaret Cho (Director/Producer, 2013), "The Power Of Two” (Director/Producer, 2011) "Still Around" (Exec.Producer / Collaborating Director, 2011), "The Weather Underground" (Producer, 2003), "Trembling Before G-d" (Producer, 2001). In recent years, he was the Producer at TellyTopia, a Silicon Valley start-up specializing in interactive television, IP-TV and VOD products for cable & satellite companies. In the 1990s, he was widely known as the President & Founder of Turbulent Arts -- a boutique, indie film distribution and sales company based in San Francisco that ranked as the 26th largest film company in North America, 14th among independents, at its peak in 1998. Today, he works full-time as an independent filmmaker, while maintaining a thriving consulting practice called 13th Gen that guides filmmakers through key stages of development, fundraising, production, post, completion, and distribution.

AUSTIN AHLBORG - DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Austin Ahlborg is an up and coming cinematographer that specializes in documentary and commercial production. Coming from a background in music videos and action sports, his passion for telling real world stories has pushed him to explore travel projects around the world. In 2014 he shot the feature-length documentary American Futbol: A Journey to the World Cup by traveling from Los Angeles to the World Cup in Brazil, covering soccer stories in Latin American countries along the way. He also shot a branded web series for Jeep, documenting WWII events in Normandy based on the real-life story of Saving Private Ryan. When not on location, Austin prefers to spend time surfing and taking casual photography.

BILL WEBER - EDITOR

Bill Weber cut his editing teeth with a broadcast Emmy, an MTV Music Video of the Year Award, and a successful career in commercial work. He discovered a passion for documentaries by editing and directing (with David Weissman) the award-winning The Cockettes (2002). In 2011, he edited and co-directed We Were Here: The AIDS Years in San Francisco, which opened to rave reviews and screened both theatrically and on PBS. Just recently he completed work on To Be Takei (2014) and The Galapagos Affair (2014). Other recent work includes the Academy Award nominated documentary The Final Inch (2009), the Emmy-nominated HBO films Last Letter Home (2010) and The Alzheimer’s Project - Caregivers (2009), as well as the Telluride premiering documentary feature Hats Off (2008), and numerous specials for HBO and The History Channel.

STEPHEN K HESLIN - EDITOR

Stephen K. Heslin has been working in feature film and TV production for over 15 years. He discovered his talent for storytelling back when he and his childhood friends would shoot short videos to entertain their families. Stephen has created and edited content for the web, including the award winning weekly video podcast The Totally Rad Show (2007 - ). He also created several popular online comedy shorts with the sketch group Very Angry Neighbors. Desert Migration marks his first feature length film editing credit. Stephen and his husband Sean live in Los Angeles.

GIL TALMI - ORIGINAL MUSIC

Gil Talmi is a world-renowned film composer with a focus on socially conscious projects. Gil’s music can be heard in a variety of award winning films and TV programs worldwide, from productions for Warner Brothers, Paramount and PBS to pro bono collaborations with The International Rescue Committee and StoryCorps. Gil was nominated for a “National News and Documentary Emmy Award” for his work on CBS Evening News.

JOEL RAABE - SOUND DESIGNER & RE-RECORDING MIXER

Joel Raabe is a sound designer and mixer who began his career in New York City, editing and mixing content for broadcast television shows, commercials, radio spots, trailers and feature films. In 2009, he received an AICP award for sound design on Durex's “Get it On” campaign, and in 2010, won a News & Documentary Emmy for his work as supervising sound editor and re-recording mixer on History Channel's 10-part series, WWII in HD. Joel resides in the Bay Area and runs Lichen Lion, a boutique audio post house.